Thursday, December 15, 2005

Yet another whacko object at the edge of the Solar System -- go figure.

Strange new object found at edge of Solar System

A large object has been found beyond Pluto travelling in an orbit tilted by 47 degrees to most other bodies in the solar system. Astronomers are at a loss to explain why the object's orbit is so off-kilter while being almost circular.


Some kind of far-flung Bracewell probe awaiting a directed transmission? You never know . . .

And whatever became of "Santa"?

2 comments:

W.M. Bear said...

Interesting. ETI MIGHT use a large planetoid ("Buffy" could be up to 1/2 Pluto-sized) in which to embed a probe for reasons of orbital stability. An out-of-ecliptic orbit might also be better for "keeping tabs" on the upstarts "below" and would make collisions with other solar-system bodies much less likely (so I'm guessing). Und zo -- Buffy the planetary-SETI skeptic-slayer!

Mac said...

WMB--

I think that's a plausible hypothesis.